Exit Roy, enter Fester...

[TerryPhelan]

Absolutely terrible news about Roy, as will now be forced to reconsider my initial optimistic stance over our chances of qualifying.

Nonetheless, according to this morning's Irish Times, Fester Carsley has made himself 'available for selection' for the Cyprus and Swiss games. Don't think he'll quite plug the gap, but at least he means well... :o :(

[drinkfeckarse]

I don't see the point myself of bringing him back, he'd be a poor substitute and they're not even similar players anyway. Keano's a massive loss but Kavanagh is the next in line IMO.

[finlma]

Fester has been great for Everton the last couple of seasons and with Roy out I'd say Kerr should get him in. I'd play him ahead of Kavanagh anyway.

[anto1208]

carsley has been sorely missed at everton while injured , he has done so well for us since quiting ireland i dont want to see him go back , but now that keane is out he may have to what other options do we have john o shea no thanks

[Pablo]

Sheaser to the middle?

[finlma]

Sheaser to the middle?

No way - its been discussed to death. His passing is diabolical. Not to mention his lack of aggression.

[dublinred]

Alan Quinn is the man playing great for sheffield United at the moment ,.

[youngirish]

Fester likes to handle the ball in the box in the 90th minute for no reason when playing for Ireland. I don't think we can afford that liabaility in these next two games. Saying that Dunne might be playing and he seems to like doing the same.

Central midfield for Cyprus has to be Kavanagh and Stephen Reid. On current form I can't see any other alternatives. At least Reid (unlike Kilbane) will bang in a few shots and test their defence. Kavanagh, on the other hand, has always been good for Ireland when called upon.

[paul_oshea]

"Fester likes to handle the ball in the box in the 90th minute for no reason when playing for Ireland. I don't think we can afford that liabaility in these next two games. Saying that Dunne might be playing and he seems to like doing the same.
"

LOL, thats all i can think of when i think of that flute coming on against turkey and costing us qualification, i mean what good did he ever do for the team, never mind to make up for that! wasnt it the 82nd minute though??

[brine3]

I agree it has to be Kavanagh and Steven Reid based on current form.

[supasparx]

Kavanagh for me, but should try and fit fester into the squad for the two games.

[Irish_Praha]

Alan Quinn is the man playing great for sheffield United at the moment ,.

I'm not a big fan of Holland but he's our most experienced holding midfielder. If he shows decent form over the next month he should replace Keane and Kavanagh to play his more natural role of attacking midfielder.
If we are a few goals up or if Holland is playing Mr. anonymous again and we need tochange things around we can put on S. Reid and/or Quinn (who's having a good season so far) in the last half an hour. If either or both of them play well then Kerr should be open to start at least one of them against the Swiss. Please don't play Kilbane.

[eirebhoy]

Holland has gone from Charlton captain to bench warmer this season. My choice would have to be Kav.

"Although Wigan dominated possession with midfielder Graham Kavanagh running the game in front of watching Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr, Jewell's team struggled to carve out goalscoring opportunities until Camara replaced David Connolly on 64 minutes."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2005/09/19/sfgwig19.xml&sSheet=/sport/2005/09/19/ixfooty.html

[Irish_Praha]

Holland has gone from Charlton captain to bench warmer this season.
Yeah but he was injured at the start of the season, maybe he'll get a few starts before the next international match? I have to be honest and say I don't know much about Kishishev.

I agree about Kav but if he replaces Roy and we keep Kilbane as the "creative" midfielder then Kav will have to play the holding role, which limits what he can add to the team. I would rather Kav to replace Kilbane and be able to get forward more. Holland would play the holding role and help protect the back four.

Gawd, hoping for Holland to get a few starts for Charlton and show some good form before these two important games really shows how limited our CMF options are :(
I know Quinn, O'Shea, S.Reid and A. Reid have been mentioned but only Quinn has regularly played CMF for his club and I don't think he's even had a start in a competitive game for Ireland yet (the Unity cup don't count :o)
Has S. Reid been startin at CMF regularly for Blackburn this season or it like last season where he plays on the right sometimes?

[TheJamaicanP.M.]

Yeah but he was injured at the start of the season, maybe he'll get a few starts before the next international match? I have to be honest and say I don't know much about Kishishev

The Charlton midfield have been very impressive this season, particularly Kishishev and Murphy. I thought Kishishev was very good against Middlesboro at the Riverside a couple of weeks ago. I think Holland will struggle to get back in the team. Remember that Mark Kinsella was club captain at Charlton a few years back, then he got injured and was kept out of the team by Scott Parker. Perhaps Holland will experience a similar misfortune, although I hope not as I'm a Mattie Holland fan. :) -
I'd have to agree with eirebhoy, Kavanagh is the man to replace Keane. He's a great passer, an agressive tackler, and has the ability to create and score goals. Indeed I predicted at the start of the season that Kavanagh will end the season with the second highest goal tally for an Irish player in the Premiership (behind Robbie!). I think that the pace with which international football is played suits Kav more than that of the Premiership. His own lack of pace is less likely to be exposed, while giving him the chance to dominate a game (something I've rarely seen Holland do).

[Qwerty]

Fester has been great for Everton the last couple of seasons and with Roy out I'd say Kerr should get him in. I'd play him ahead of Kavanagh anyway.

The only problem with that is that Everton isn't Ireland, Carsley never really did it at international level despite good performances for Derby, Blackburn & Everton over the years. Kavanagh will have to do but honestly with Keane out our center midfield options are complete and utter crap.

I think Steven Reid deserves a chance in the center but the timing isn't right, he has the engine and physique and loves to tackle.

[Condex]

No Roy, Kilbane playing crap at Everton spends most of his time on the bench, we are basically up sh1t creek without a paddle.

We'll be lucky to get past the Cypriots with this lot, and I don't think the Swiss will be losing any sleep about comming to Dublin needing just a point, knowing that Frei will will get a few chances...

I remeber a time when teams feared comming to Dublin..

[Cosmo]

I'd go with Kavanagh to be honest

[jbyrne]

No Roy, Kilbane playing crap at Everton spends most of his time on the bench, we are basically up sh1t creek without a paddle.

We'll be lucky to get past the Cypriots with this lot, and I don't think the Swiss will be losing any sleep about comming to Dublin needing just a point, knowing that Frei will will get a few chances...

I remeber a time when teams feared comming to Dublin..

what an overreaction! who have cyprus got that we should fear? and the swiss for that matter?? we played very poorly in basle last september and still came away with a point. ok, so roy will be missing and one or two of our players are off form but we still have the likes of given, carr, finnan, dunne, duff. andy reid and robbie that are all far supperior to what cyprus have and at least as good as the swiss. i think some people need a reality check on our current situation in this qualifying group

i've no doubt we'll get two wins and get into the play-offs. no doubt at all

[NeilMcD]

No Roy, Kilbane playing crap at Everton spends most of his time on the bench, we are basically up sh1t creek without a paddle.

We'll be lucky to get past the Cypriots with this lot, and I don't think the Swiss will be losing any sleep about comming to Dublin needing just a point, knowing that Frei will will get a few chances...

I remeber a time when teams feared comming to Dublin..



I think Kilbanes performance and Keanes performance against France shows the importance of 1st team football and playing regularly in coming up to an important game. For that reason unless Holland and Kilbane play regularly I would not have them near the team. For me at the moment the midfield woudl be Kavanagh and Stephen Reid or Kavanagh and O Shea against Cyprus and Harte at Left Back. I think good passsers is whats needed in midfield. I would very rarely play Harte but against Cyprus you can get away with it and he might chip in with a goal from a free kick when it is getting tense. Kerr was saw Kavanagh play on Sunday and was very impressed with him also. For me he is a certain starter in the final 2 games.


Also the Swiss will need more than a draw in the final game unless they Beat the French as a draw will more than likely put Israel through. So there is very little chance that Switzerland will play for a draw in Dublin.

[NeilMcD]

Kerr stays positive as Keane loss hits home
Tuesday September 20th 2005
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BRIAN KERR insisted last night that there is now an opportunity for other players to step up to the plate for the final two World Cup qualifiers after the loss of talisman Roy Keane.

The Ireland boss spoke to Keane yesterday afternoon and the United midfielder revealed that he will have to wear a protective boot for some weeks after breaking a metatarsal on the middle toe of his left foot in Sunday's clash with Liverpool. He also sustained a cut on the foot which doctors have warned could get infected.

Keane was already ruled out of the trip to Nicosia to face Cyprus because of suspension but he will now miss the home game against Switzerland four days later. Indeed, the Corkman's bad break could also keep him out of the World Cup play-offs in November if Ireland make it that far bringing about the real possibility that Ireland's defeat to France last month may have been the Corkman's last appearance in a green jersey.

"He had been told that the healing period will be from six to eight weeks so that rules him out of the Swiss match in three weeks' time. The play-offs won't be for seven weeks so he might be back for them if the injury heals quickly," said Kerr.

"We knew he was going to miss the Cyprus game but he would have been fit and fresh for the Swiss game, something like the start of the campaign. We have prepared for the loss of players throughout this campaign. The focus is on winning the next two games."

Throughout this campaign Kerr has used either Matt Holland or Graham Kavanagh to replace Keane with Kavanagh filling in at home to Cyprus while Holland took his place against Israel in Dublin.

Neither made it to the bench for the game against France having struggled with injury from the start of the season but Kavanagh has now played three on the trot for Wigan while Holland made his seasonal bow for Charlton at home to Chelsea on Saturday.

With the role of both players in the international set-up now likely to become more important, Kerr, who watched Kavanagh in Wigan's 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough on Sunday, was delighted to see them both back in action.

"They are starting to get a few games under their belt," he said. "We didn't pick them for the France game because they hadn't played up to that."

Another option is Everton's Lee Carsley who has phoned Kerr to tell him that his self-imposed 17-month exile from international football is over.

"I had a call from Lee and I told him that I would go over to meet him soon. I am glad that he had decided to come back because I thought he had a good season," said Kerr.

"He is a very good fellow and since I have been involved I have found him to be very committed, very honest and good to have around the squad. He always puts his heart and soul into everything."

However, Carsley's hopes of being in the squad for next month's qualifiers against Cyprus and Switzerland could be dashed by a knee injury that has prevented him from playing for Everton this season.

Kerr also has to find replacements for Clinton Morrison and Andy Reid who are suspended for the trip to Cyprus and that could see call-ups for Wigan's David Connolly, Reading's Kevin Doyle and Celtic's Aiden McGeady.

Meanwhile, the manager has been in discussion with the association's chief executive John Delaney over the venue for the home leg should Ireland reach the play-offs with the Millennium Stadium, Anfield, Old Trafford, Eastlands and Parkhead all being considered.

Lansdowne Road is unavailable on the date of the first leg because of a rugby international and the capacity would be reduced to 22,000 for the second leg because of the absence of bucket seats.

Gerry McDermott

[Roverstillidie]

what an overreaction! who have cyprus got that we should fear? and the swiss for that matter?? we played very poorly in basle last september and still came away with a point. ok, so roy will be missing and one or two of our players are off form but we still have the likes of given, carr, finnan, dunne, duff. andy reid and robbie that are all far supperior to what cyprus have and at least as good as the swiss. i think some people need a reality check on our current situation in this qualifying group

i've no doubt we'll get two wins and get into the play-offs. no doubt at all
the swiss have yakin. remember what he did to us?
and a more pertinant question is who have we got that the swiss and the cypriots should fear? duff. sin e!
i think there are a lot of deluded souls out there who reckon we are anyting other than a bog standard side.
i hate to agree with the turd, but dunphy is dead right in yesterdays star when he says this is the worst irish squad in 30 years. we are simply not good enough.

[jbyrne]

the swiss have yakin. remember what he did to us?

yakin is having a very poor run at the moment and was taken off after 60mins against israel

[Dublin12]

[QUOTE=

Meanwhile, the manager has been in discussion with the association's chief executive John Delaney over the venue for the home leg should Ireland reach the play-offs with the Millennium Stadium, Anfield, Old Trafford, Eastlands and Parkhead all being considered.

.

Gerry McDermott[/QUOTE]

Where is Eastlands :confused: ,do they mean Villa Park :confused:

[jbyrne]

Where is Eastlands :confused: ,do they mean Villa Park :confused:

think its man citys ground

[Dotsy]

Where is Eastlands :confused: ,do they mean Villa Park :confused:

Man City's ground

[Lionel Ritchie]

While I'd probably go with Kavanagh as he's the incumbent on merit -I'd happily welcome Carsley back into the fold if he's made himself available.

He didn't walk away on bad terms or anything -he felt his career was going belly up at Everton and, more importantly, he has a little fellah with Special Needs who I'm guessing he wanted to spend more time with.

Welcome back and good luck to him if he gets the nod.

[Stuttgart88]

While I'd probably go with Kavanagh as he's the incumbent on merit -I'd happily welcome Carsley back into the fold if he's made himself available.

He didn't walk away on bad terms or anything -he felt his career was going belly up at Everton and, more importantly, he has a little fellah with Special Needs who I'm guessing he wanted to spend more time with.

Welcome back and good luck to him if he gets the nod.
Yeah, well said.